By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM
Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter
On paper,
this could be a special winter for the Highlands Ladybirds basketball team.
Highlands
returns a wealth of talent and experience from last year’s squad, including
four starters. That has the Ladybirds listed as a contender in the 9th Region.
The Northern Kentucky Girls Basketball Coaches ranked Highlands second in the
region behind the Notre Dame Pandas in their annual preseason poll.
While
Highlands and Notre Dame did not suffer huge losses to graduation, the
Ladybirds know the rest of the region will not bow down. They will have to
prove themselves on a daily basis.
No one
knows that better than Highlands head coach Jaime Walz-Richey. As a player, Walz-Richey
guided Highlands to three consecutive 9th Region crowns between 1994 and 1996
before going on to Western Kentucky University, including a state runner-up
finish in 1994. The 1996 Gatorade National Player of the Year finished her
career as the state’s all-time leading scorer with 4,948 career points.
Richey took
over as head coach in 2002. The Ladybirds are 175-117 after 10 seasons under
Richey. During that time, Highlands has District 36 championships in 2007 and
2008 in addition to 9th Region semifinal appearances in 2004, 2007 and 2009.
The
Ladybirds finished 17-16 overall a year ago. They lost to Newport Central
Catholic, 59-27 in the 36th District title game and Notre Dame, 13-8 in the 9th
Region quarterfinals.
“We have high standards here at Highlands,” Richey said. “As
a former player, I’m really thinking about the little things. I think the girls
are finally realizing that little things win games. It just takes a lot of players
willing to put in the hard work. Not necessarily just basketball players, but
two to three-sport athletes willing to put in their time during basketball
season to get better. We have a good group of girls in the program now that are
dedicated to basketball and do anything to make the team better.”
By the
little things, Richey means ball fakes, getting the ball into the post, boxing
out and teamwork among other things. That starts with the senior “Twin Towers”
in 6-foot-0-inch forward Leah Schaefer and 5-11 center Jesse Daley. The two
just signed to play college basketball Thursday. Schaefer signed to play at
nearby Xavier University and Daley signed at nearby NCAA Division III Thomas
More College.
Schaefer
has been called “the most versatile player in the 9th Region” for good reason.
She can play any of the five positions on the court. She brought the ball up
the court some last year when 5-7 point guard Ava Abner went out with right torn
anterior cruciated ligament, medial collateral ligament and Meniscus injuries
when Boone County’s Sydney Moss undercut her going for a loose ball in December.
Schaefer
averaged 14.9 points and 8.55 rebounds a game last year. Schaefer enters the
season 14 points short of the 1,000-point mark for her career with 986.
Daley is
expected to control the paint. She averaged 10 points and 5.61 rebounds a game
last year.
Schaefer
and Daley are two of six seniors on the team. The other four seniors are guards
in Abner, 5-8 Emilie Parton, 5-7 Vanessa Fisse and 5-5 Kelsey Clark. Daley said
the team chemistry has been good so far.
“We just have to keep it up throughout the year,” Daley said. “We’ve
all been around for a really long time so we have to take leadership and show
the young girls how it’s done.”
The
Highlands roster lists 15 players overall. That gives the Ladybirds the depth
they hope to use to pressure the entire game and wear down opponents.
The down
side to that is that roster lists 10 guards so Highlands is not deep at the
forward and center positions so staying out of foul trouble could be key. After
Schaefer and Daley, the other forwards are sophomore 5-6 Alex Combs and 6-0
freshman McKenzie Leigh. The other listed center is 5-11 sophomore Kristyn
Lukjan.
“We’ve been telling the girls that other teams may
have the best one through five players,”
Richey said. “But as a coaching staff,
we feel that we have the best one through eleven on our roster. We’re going to
push it so that when we sub, we’re not going to lose anything like other teams
sometimes do.”
Richey said
Highlands did not have anyone to pick up the intensity Abner brought to the
court when she went down last year. Abner is able to play despite missing most
of the soccer season in the fall because of surgery to repair more damage done
to her right Meniscus.
“We’re trying to make it so that we don’t fall apart
like last year,” Parton said. “We were trying to rebuild and rebuild and
it wasn’t working. We’re trying to make sure that if she’s not there, the
guards can take over her spot.”
But Richey
said Abner’s injury may become a blessing in disguise for this year in some
ways. Two freshmen guards in 5-7 Brianna Adler and 5-4 Haley Coffey earned some
time at the point guard along with Fisse.
“When Ava is back playing, she does not have to play
point guard,” Richey said. “We can put her at a three (small forward)
or two (shooting guard). I can switch lineups around.”
Three other
guards give the Ladybirds some depth. They are 5-8 junior Tomi Blanton and
three other sophomores in 5-7 Whitney Quillen, 5-4 Katelyn Helton and 5-8 Lydia
Graves.
Aside from
the up-tempo, full-court attack, Richey said Highlands has been working on
defense. The Ladybirds want to deny penetration and keep the ball out of the
paint. Last year, Highlands outscored opponents, 1,719-1,591 for an average of
about 52-48.
“They’re understanding the good things they do on the
court,” Richey said. “They don’t put themselves in positions
where they’re going to fail. They’re helping each other out so that’s huge.”
Highlands
opens the season at home on Nov. 27 against Dixie Heights coached by former
Highlands standout and assistant Tara Boothe-Smith. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
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